I just posted my into in the premed introductions forum.
I have been back in school for over a year now and so far so good, have made A’s in everything up until now-CHEMISTRY. For my first test I only made a C on it…I am not a C student. But with my lab grade I do have a B in the class overall so that is good, but hey I want an A.
I know I just did not study enough. I am in Chem 1 as of now and looking ahead to all the Chemistry we pre-meds have to take I think will be what makes or breaks me.
Do you all have an easy time with Chemistry, what have your grades been so far? If I don’t make an A will I never get into med school? Any other science class I have taken I have always made A’s so this is a shock to me!
What have your experiences been with Chemistry? Surely I am not the only one who has a hard time with it. My teacher is terrible so that doesn’t help but is still not an excuse to not do well in the class.
Marilyn
I got an 84 on my first test, though I thought I was prepared. For me the key to general chemistry was to beat the homework to death. I did every problem 3 or 4 times, sometimes 5 or 6. (I promise it goes much faster each time). This worked extremely well with the way my prof wrote his exams. The problems were based on the homework problems, but there were several of them and you had to know what you were doing to have time to answer the problems, check the answers, and check for stupid copying or calculator mistakes before turning in the exams.
Once I had the “Beat the homework to death” routine established, I was okay in general chemistry.
What was your exam like?
You DO NOT have to make all As to get into med school unless your previous grades were not so good. If you’re coming off a history of A’s, you have a little slack. Don’t beat yourself up.
Another thing about Gen Chem is that it is really really easy to make stupid mistakes. So, the more you practice the suggested problems the less likely you are to make the stupid mistakes (although I never did stop making a few of them lol). When I first attempted chemistry way back when I first graduated high school (in high school too for that matter) I was awful at it. In HS we had an awful book and an awful teacher, and when I took it the first time in college I just didn’t have the discipline to work through the problems. The interest just wasn’t there yet. So going into this journey I always thought chemistry was going to be my worst subject and I’d be lucky to squeeze by with the C’s in the chem classes. I honestly don’t remember what I got on that first exam but I ended up with a B in the first semester and a B+ in the second semester which was an honors section and I new found love of chemistry - so much so that I added a double major lol.
Now I was always an A student in high school science classes (except that chemistry class), and an A/B student regardless in classes that I actually finished (I was very very undisciplined right after hs), but it’s also very very common for me to have a C or lower first exam simply because I don’t know what to expect yet. Once I get an idea of how the prof asks questions and how they grade I know more what I need to do to study effectively. For Gen chem it was definitely working through the problems. I also took notes on what I was reading, and made some notecards for memorizing ions and stuff too.
Don’t let your first exam bother you. You know you didn’t study enough for it so that obviously won’t happen again and you’ll do much better on the next one. However, if by some fluke you didn’t it’s still nothing to worry about. Your life will not be over. You may have to work a bit harder than those that have the 4.0 gpa’s but a couple C’s won’t kill you (which I doubt you’ll end up with anyway). You also may simply have an organic chemistry mind rather than an inorganic chemistry mind and will one of those that finds organic chem much easier than gen chem. Now that doesn’t mean you can’t do equally well in both, just that you’ll have to study a bit more for one than the other. I was definitely an inorganic mind rather than an organic mind, which was extremely surprising cuz I’m not a math mind, but I’ve slowly been converted to an organic mind once it finally started sinking in lol. Too bad it happened a semester late for me 
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Hang in there, you know what you need to do now so it will go much more smoothly next exam! Good luck!
–Jessica, UCCS
Did you have trouble with the math on this exam? I think the amount of algebra that shows up in gen chem is one thing that really distinguishes it from other science classes (except maybe physics). My own gen chem 1 prof said that math is the biggest obstacle his students face in that class.
Don’t worry too much about one exam. You can always improve on the next one! Also, I’m not sure what other science classes you’ve taken, but each science is different. You have to gain unique skills for each subject. For me, it was physics that presented the biggest challenge, initially. But I do know how you feel. Hang in there!
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Do you all have an easy time with Chemistry, what have your grades been so far? If I don’t make an A will I never get into med school? Any other science class I have taken I have always made A’s so this is a shock to me!
What have your experiences been with Chemistry? Surely I am not the only one who has a hard time with it. My teacher is terrible so that doesn’t help but is still not an excuse to not do well in the class.
Marilyn
Hi there Marilyn,
I was an Analytical Chemistry major for my undergraduate degree and I got a B in my first semester of General Chemistry. Don’t obsess about the grade but rather make sure that you understand the principles behind each problem. Any chemistry class is about principles and using your math as a tool to investigate those principles.
I can tell you that you don’t need to have all As in order to get into and through medical school. If you have As in every other science, a B or even a C will not torpedo your application especially if you know and understand the principles behind the problems that you encounter. The MCAT is all about being able to take what you have learned and apply it to new situations.
Make some changes and figure out what you need to do to grasp the concepts from here on out. You may not earn an A but you will be better off in the long run.
Good luck!
Natalie
If you know you did not put enough time into it well, there is your answer. I tutor chemistry and have to constantly remind my tutees that chemistry is not like any other class where you may stumble upon the right answer…you have to work at it hard. Almost everyone that I know had to work at it hard including those folks that did extremely well and received A’s. Now, the first exam will not break or make you but now you know. It will take a major amount of time and you will have to adjust your schedule. I also did what some of the previous posters did and kept doing the homework problems until I gained a lot of speed, believe me that helps but it takes time. Also, you must read the chapter period. So many folks assume that they can just do the chapter homework and get away w/o reading the whole chapter. Also, the MCAT is mostly conceptual so by reading the chapter until you get the concepts will be a major help for the MCAT. You are still fine and no you do not have to get all A’s but if you do well it looks good. Good luck.
Thanks a ton you guys
It’s true I simply did not study enough. Most classes I can get away with studying a couple hours a week and still get an A but not this one I have found out…lol!
Thanks for the tips and I have started putting back at least an hour a day for Chemistry only. We will see how the next few tests go.
And ya it’s the math that slows me down, the concepts I am getting and doing well on, just the stinkin math.
Marilyn
It’s actually good news that it’s the math that’s getting you. Adding that hour of day of practice should help clean that right up. Once you understand the concepts, math is just practice.
Knock 'em dead!
What subjects are you currently covering in Chemistry? Which textbook are you using?
We used the Zumdahl General Chemistry textbook, and it was really one of the finest textbooks I’ve seen for any subject. I was still working during the first half of the semester in Gen Chem I and so I missed about half my class meetings for that portion of the semester…yet was still able to self study out of that text and not lose any ground, and end up with an A.
It’s a fantastic book.